Histopathologic grading and DNA ploidy in relation to survival among 206 adult astrocytic tumor patients

• Published in: Cancer 1992-07, Vol.70 (2), p.538-546
• Main Authors: Salmon, Isabelle, Kiss, Robert, Dewitte, Olivier, Gras, Thiery, Pasteels, Jean‐Lambert, Brofchi, Jacques, Flament‐Durand, Jacqueline
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analysis of Variance; Aneuploidy; astrocytic tumors; Astrocytoma - metabolism; Astrocytoma - mortality; Astrocytoma - pathology; Brain Neoplasms - metabolism; Brain Neoplasms - mortality; Brain Neoplasms - pathology; DNA histo‐gram type; DNA index; DNA, Neoplasm - analysis; Female; Feulgen staining; Follow-Up Studies; Glioblastoma - metabolism; Glioblastoma - mortality; Glioblastoma - pathology; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Ploidies; Prognosis; Survival Rate
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(19920715)70:2<538::AID-CNCR2820700226>3.0.CO;2-#

Background. The authors studied the benefit of performing histopathologic grading and DNA ploidy char‐acterization with respect to patient survival in a series of 206 astrocytomas (AST) for which they obtained 134 complete clinical follow‐ups. Methods. The material analyzed came from archi‐val material, i.e., formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tis‐sues. DNA ploidy was assessed by means of a cell image processor computing the integrated optical density [IOD] on Feulgen‐stained nuclei. Results. Results showed that histopathologic diag‐nosis in three grades, i.e., AST, anaplastic astrocytoma (ANA), and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), had a signifi‐cant prognostic value. Patients with AST showed a mean survival time (between histopathologic diagnosis and death) of more than 36 ± 6 months (AST versus ANA or GBM) (P < 0.001). Patients with ANA and GBM showed a mean survival time of 15 ± 2 and 10 ± 1 months, respec‐ tively, (ANA versus GBM) (P < 0.05). Patient age strongly correlated with survival. Patients younger than 40 years of age had a mean survival time of 20 ± 4 months. Pa‐ tients between 41 and 60 years of age had a mean survival time of 12 ± 2 months, and patients older than 60 years of age had a mean survival time of 11 ± 1 months. Conclusions. Considering DNA ploidy characterization, the authors noticed that aneuploid ANA (DNA index [DI] more than 1.30) were associated with a significantly higher mean patient survival time compared with that associated with euploid ANA. In contrast, the authors did not find this in either of the groups with AST and GBM. Recognizing six DNA histogram types (diploid, triploid, tetraploid, hyperdiploid, hypertriploid, and polymorphic), the authors observed that hypertriploid tumors were associated with greater patient survival compared with what happened in the cases of the five other DNA histogram types. This was true with respect to the three AST histopathologic types, Thus, DNA ploidy determination seemed helpful in characterizing aggressiveness in adult AST. Cancer 1992: 70:538‐546.